Instrument panel



Dec. l, 1953 E. A. NEUGAss INSTRUMENT PANEL Filed Nov. s, 1951 JNVENToR. fW//V AJVEUG/)S BYv nel

Patented Dec. 1, 1953 l UNITED STATES; eATE-*NT orties.

INSTRUMENT PilNEL y Edwin A. Neugass, WhiteBlainsL Nrn A A Application November 9, 1951, Serial'NorZSSJof l (Cl- 10.*113Q-'l- 1l Claims.: 1

The present inventionl relatesA to. improvements in panels for aircraft instruments and the like, and' is. particularly directed to improvements.. suchI panels of' the kind thatl are internally illllmi nated.

It is an object.. of the present invention to pro.-` vide an internally illuminated panel wherein the various engraved characters are sharply defined with uniform intensity and without regard to the distances of suchcharacters from the source or sources of'light.

Another objectl of the present invention is Vto provide a laminated `panel having a transparent or light transmitting core or body with a transe lucent-layer andI a superposed penetratedy opaque layery on the front face of thecore and4 similar layersen selected' areas of thepoiished. rear face of they core to substantially equalize the intensity of the light transilluminated through the front translucent layer at. the Vlocations. variously distanced from theV light sourceA or sources emitting light to the transparent'core and at which .the opaque front layer is penetrated to denne the desired characters.

, The aboveA and othery objects, features anclada vantages of: the present invention Will clearly ap,- pear from. the detailed description given below taken in connection with the, accompanying drawings Which formv a part of this specicatien and: illustrate,` merely by- Way. of. example, one eine Fig. 3f a rearelevational view of thepanelotv F'ig. l, but with the rear shieldthereof removed;

and

Fig. 4' is a front elevational view ofthe rear shield of thepanel of Fig. 1.

In illuminating instrument and control panels located in the operating area ofv a vehicle, such as, for example, the cockpit. of. an airplane orthe bridge or wheel-house of a ship, it is necessary that the illumination be glareless andv preferably of a red color to; maintain the dark adaptation of the pilots. or operators eyes. This requirement iis-.setl forth in the United States Air Force-.Navy

Aeronautical Specifications, which further ree quite that. there be a. high degree of color contrast; between the. surface of the panel bearing..

the instruments.. orcontrols and any. lettering or other indicia. adornng the. panels. when viewed in daylight and. that. the. panels have low specular. gloss. to reduce reflection of light emitted.

other sources in the cockpit or Wheelehouse.

Panels. thatY substantially satisfyy .these requirements have been providedr in United StatesfPatf.. ent No. 2",518,.26. wherein the .panel .consists of.

iive. layers: of material, .the center layer being transparenhvthe .two nextaadjacent layersbeing translucent and superimposed directly uponthe. transparent. layerat the opposite sides thereon. andthe front andback outerlayers beingopaq'ue and. superimposed. directly upon the translucent layers. by suitably shaped openings extending throughA the front. opaque layerto` the. underlyingl layer of translucent.V material. The panel fis. illuminated by a light source extending intof the central'core' or body of' transparent material and: having a suitable. red. filter .extendinggthereabout to.- directe.

colored .light .through the central transparent. layer :Eo-r transillum-inatingthe translucentzlayer at the indicia defining opening in the front..

opaque layer. In order to provide the necessaryhigh color contrast. when. viewed in daylight, the outer opaquev layer, havingV the openings formed. therein, is preferably. black, While the translucent layers are. white. and the low specular gloss at; the frontsurface of .the panel is. achieved' by giov..n ingthe opaque layersamatte nish. Y

While panels ofthe kind disclosed inthe aboveidentied patentzhave proven satisfactory infmost respects, it has been found thatin actual practice the, intensity of' illumination of the various in-A dicia or. lettering provided atV the front face of the. panel varies. .with the distance. of' the respective indicia from the` lightfsource directing light into:`

the. .central transparent. core or body. In accordev ance with the present invention, lthis defect'v is remedied by forming thetranslucent andlopaque layers ati the4 rear of .the panel so that such layerscover only selected areas ofthe rear surface of the central core. or-body of transparent material..V

It hasbeen found that .a smallerypercentageof the, liebtk transmitted throuehxthe. transparent. core or-'body will befreflected forwardly fortransf. illuminatinef the. translucentlayer at: the portions of the panel which are devoid-roi the rear trans.,-A lucent and' opaque layer, tha-nat those areas oi? the. panet having the Alast mentioned layers. Therefore, uniformity. in the intensity of the The indicia( on such panelsy are. provided transillumination may be obtained by providing the rear translucent and opaque layers only at those portions of the panel remote from the light source or sources.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote the same parts in the several figures thereof, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is there shown. 'I'he illustrated panel, generally indicated by the reference numeral II) includes a core or body II made up of a sheet of clear, transparent lighttransmitting material, preferably plastic, such as, for example, methyl methacrylate, and having a relatively thin layer, coating or film I2 `of light Y colored, preferably White, translucent material,

superimposed upon the front surface thereof.

The translucent layer I2 is preferably plastic and of the class of polyvinyls or vinyl resins or materials, their polymers or copolymers, suchas,-for example, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride-acetate co-polymer, polyvinylidene chloride, or vinyl chloride-vinylidene chloride co-polymers, The panel I further includes an opaque .outer layer I3. superimposed over the translucent layer I2 and formed of a suitable opaque material, preferably plastic, such as, for example, vinyl having preferably a matte nish and of a dark, preferably black. color. Y

The frontopaque layer I3 is provided with suitably shaped openings extending therethroughto uncover, or expose. the underlying portions of the translucent layer I2 and formed to define the desiredindiciaor lettering. For example, as seen in Fig. 1, the opaque layer I3 may be formed with the openings, I4, I5, I6 and II, respectively, deiining the words Out, On, Off and Servo .Illumination of the panel is provided by means of suitable panel lights, only one of which is shown and indicated by the numeral I8, and may be conventional in construction, such as, panely lights manufactured under part number A4295 by the Grimes Manufacturing Company, Urbana, Ohio. Such lightsare inserted in suitable holes or openings extending Ythrough the panel,.and are preferably enclosed Within a colored filter I9. (Fig. 2) so that the light directed into the central transparent core II will be. colored, for eX- ample red, in order to maintain the dark adapta. tion of the observers eye. Light emitted from the panel light I8 will be transmitted through the body ll to transilluminate the translucent layer I2 at the variousopenings I4, I5, I6 and I7. The light serving to produce such transillumination Will consist of rays which impinge directly against the forward surface of the body II at angles greater than the angle of reection, and also rays whichY are reected from the rear surface of the transparent body and then impinge against the front surface at angles greater than the angle of reflection. Since the light emitted from the as-v sembly I8 may be considered to originate at a point source, such rays will diverge from that point sourcetowards the remote areas of the panel. Thus, ordinarily the intensity of the light available within the transparent body II will beV less at the portions thereof remote from the panel light than at the areas of the panel located close to the panel light. However, in accordance withv the present invention, the intensity of transillumination at the portions of the layer I2 remote from the source of light is made substantially equal to the transillumination of that layer at the portion of the latter close to the panel lights. This equalization is achieved by providing a layer covering the portions of the rear surface of the Lbs 2l of an opaque, preferably dark colored plastic material, Vis superimposed upon the aforementioned layer 20.

Since the portions of the rear surface of the `trar'is'parent body I I other than those covered by the layer) 20, are bare, a shield 22, preferably formed of metal, and coextensive with the body Il is provided behind the latter. The shield 22 has a coating 23 (Figs. 2 and 4) on the edge portions of the front face thereof. 'I'he edge portion coating 23 is formed of a dark material, forV example, a paint, having a matte finish so that the light escaping from the uncovered portionsof f the rear surface ofthe body II will not be fore..

wardly reflected at the edges of the panel towards the observer. provided with openings, such as the openings 24 and 25 toV receive the shafts for various control knobs and the like, and such openings are coatedV with a dark opaque material, for example, paint, to prevent the escape of light therethrough. Similarly, the edges of the panel are coated witha dark opaque material, for example paint, soV that the light emitted fromthe source, I8 will be conned within the panel, and permitted to escape.

only through the indicia defining openings.

The sandwiching together of the body Il and the layers I2, I3, 20 and 2I may be achieved by any one of several conventional methods. For example, the body II and the various layers may be coated with an adhesive, and the superposed layers and body, or sandwich, then passed through a set of rolls, whichsqueeze out any excessive adhesive, disperse it uniformly over the entire area, and .assist the adhesive, in bonding the layers to each other and to the respective .Y

faces of the body II. Another method, and the preferred one, is to place the transparent plastic body in a press with heated platens, between the layers 20 and I2 and bond these three pieces together by means of heat and pressure. This lamination is then placed on the press betweenttheV vinyl opaque layers I3 and 2I and a new lamination made by the application of heat andpres-Y sure. After the sandwich has been produced, the

panel may then be fabricated tor suitable size and shape, with the drilling of proper holes or other machine Work then being performed. The last,`

machine operation, preferably is the engraving of all the required indicia. In so forming the indicia, the engraving tool is allowed to penetrate only the front opaque layer I3 so that the translucent layer I2 will remain at the inner end of the various openings. c

From ythe foregoingdescription;` it isapparen that the present invention provides panels of 'the described character wherein the various indicia are illuminated with uniform intensity irrespece tive of the distances of such indicia from the light source.

While I have described and illustrated a specific preferred embodiment of my invention, it isto be understood that the invention is .not limited to that precise embodiment and that various modi- The panel may be further.

cations, obvious to one skilled in the art, maybe made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as deiined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A panel comprising a body of transparent material with a next adjacent layer of translucent material superimposed on the front face thereof, and an outer layer of opaque material superimposed over said translucent layer, said outer layer having openings therethrough uncovering the underlying portions `of said translucent layer and defining indicia, means for admitting light to said transparent body to transillurninate the translucent layer at the openings in the opaque layer, and a light concentrating coating covering the portions ci the rear surface of said transparent body registering with the openings in said opaque outer layer remote from said light admitting means so that the transillurnination at said openings is of substantially uniform intensity.

2. A panel comprising a body of transparent material with a next adjacent layer of translucent material superimposed on the front face thereof, and an outer layer of opaque material superimposed over said translucent layer, said outer layer having openings therethrough uncovering the underlying portions of said translucent layer and defining indicia, means for admitting light to said transparent body to transilluminate the translucent layer at the openings in the opaque layer, a light concentrating coating covering only those areas of the rear surface of said transparent body disposed behind those openings in said opaque outer layer which are remote from said light admitting means for equalizing the intensity of transillumination at the several openings, and an opaque shield member disposed behind said transparent body and coextensive therewith having a coating of dark non-reflective material along the edge portions of the forward surface thereof to prevent forward reflection of the light escaping rearwardly from the panel adjacent the edges of the latter.

3. A panel as set forth in claim 1; wherein said light concentrating coating includes a layer of light colored translucent material superimposed against said rear surface of the transparent body and a dark colored opaque layer superimposed upon said light colored translucent layer.

4. A panel as set forth in claim 2; wherein said light concentrating coating includes a layer of light colored translucent material superimposed against said rear surface of the transparent body and a dark colored opaque layer superimposed upon said light colored translucent layer.

5. A panel comprising a body of transparent material with a next adjacent layer of translucent light colored material superimposed on the front face thereof, and an outer layer of opaque dark colored material superimposed over said translucent layer, said outer layer having openings therethrough uncovering the underlying portions of said translucent layer and formed to deiine indicia, at least one light emitting means for directing light through said transparent body to ltransilluminate the translucent layer at the openings in the opaque layer, the rear surface of said transparent body being polished and having a light concentrating coating superimposed only on the areas thereof located behind those openings in said opaque layer which are remote from 6 said light emitting means to substantially equalize the intensity of the transillumination of said translucent layer at the openings in the opaque layer without regard for the distance of said openings from said light emitting means.

6. A panel as set forth in claim 5; wherein said light concentrating coating includes a layer of light colored translucent material disposed against said areas of the rear surface of said transparent body.

7. A panel as set forth in claim 5; 4wlierein said light concentrating coating includes a layer of light colored translucent material disposed against said areas of the rear surface of said transparent body, and a rearmost opaque, darli colored layer superimposed over the last inentioned translucent layer.

8. A panel as set forth in claim 7; including an opaque shield member disposed behind said body and the layers superimposed thereon, said shield member being substantially coextensive with said body and having a coating of dark colored nonw reflective material along the edge portions of the forward surface thereof to prevent forward reflection of the light escaping rearwardly from the edge portions of the panel.

9. A panel comprising a body of transparent material with a next adjacent layer of translucent material superimposed on the front face thereof, and an outer layer of opaque material superimposed over said translucent layer, said outer layer having openings therethrough uncovering the underlying portions of said translucent layer and formed to denne indicia, at least one light admitting means extending into said transparent body for directing light through the latter to transilluminate said translucent layer at the openings in the opaque layer, the rear surface of said body being polished and having a layer of white colored vinyl superimposed only on .the areas thereof which are disposed behind the indicia defining openings remote from said light emitting means to increase the proportion of the light passing through said body and impinging against said areas of the rear surface that is reflected for wardly for transilluminating said remote openings to thereby substantially equalize the intensity of transillumination at portions of the panel spaced unequally from said light emitting means,

10. A panel as set forth in claim 9; including a layer of dark opaque material superimposed.l

over said layer of white colored vinyl.

11. A panel as set forth in claim 10; including an opaque shield member disposed behind said body and the layers superimposed thereon, said shield member being substantially coextensive with said body and having a coating of dark colored non-reilective material along the edge portions of the forward surface thereof to prevent forward reflection of the light escaping rear wardly from the edge portions oi the panel.

EDWIN A. NEUGASS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,150,836 Lamb Mar. 14, 1939 2,207,585 Gaspar July 9, 1940 2,518,726 Shlenker Aug. 15, 1950 2,561,672 Pritikin July 24, i 

